As mental illness permeates streets, police, jail struggle

Houston Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team Mental Health Unit officer Jaime Giraldo, speaks with a homeless man about to be transported to a local hospital. Giraldo drives the HOT Mercedes Benz van, painted in classic black-and-white police colors and equipped with a powerful wheelchair lift in the rear. HPD officers assigned to HOT, or the Homeless Outreach Team, will use the roomy vehicle as a mobile office, as well as a safe transport for homeless people. The van is the latest piece of vital police equipment procured by the Houston Police Foundation, a non-profit agency.

Houston Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team Mental Health...

Houston police officers respond to tens of thousands of mental health calls a year, expending untold manpower and money but resulting in very few arrests.

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